Line-finding feed device for continuous forms for typewriting and such machines

ABSTRACT

Feed apparatus in a printing machine for feeding forms having registration apertures to a printing position comprising a rotatable platen, a star wheel operating in conjunction with said platen to sense said apertures by entering said apertures and rotating with the movement of said apertures, and electrical means responsive to the sensing of said apertures to halt said platen at predetermined writing lines relative to said apertures.

United States Patent Inventor Attllio De Ambrogio Milan, Italy AppL No.803,659 Filed Mar. 3, 1969 Patented Aug. 24, 1971 Assignee lug. C.Olivetti 8: C., S.p.A.

lvm (Torino), Italy Priority Mar.'7, 1968 I Italy LINE-FINDING FEEDDEVICE FOR CONTINUOUS FORMS FDR TYPEWRI'I'ING AND SUCH MACHINES 18Claims, 5 Drawing'lip.

US. Cl 197/133, 197/ 127 Int. Cl. Bdlj 15/00 Field olSearch 197/127,128, 133

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,985,178 12/1934 Loeb197/127 2,246,969 6/1941 Antrim 197/133 2,307,351 1/1943 Antrim 197/1332,558,947 7/1951 Furman 197/127 2,831,561 4/1958 Speh 197/133 UX3,211,272 10/1 965 Holladay et al. 197/127 3,247,944 4/ 1966 Templeton197/127 3,356,200 12/1967 De George 197/133 X Primary Examiner-Ernest T.Wright, Jr Attorney-Kevin C. McMahon ABSTRACT: Feed apparatus in aprinting machine for feeding forms having registration apertures to aprinting position comprising a rotatable platen, a star wheel operatingin conjunction with said platen to sense said apertures by entering saidapertures and rotating with the movement of said apertures, andelectrical means responsive to the sensing of said apertures to haltsaid platen at predetermined writing lines relative to said apertures.

PATENTEU AUB24I971 3.601.239

sum 1 or 2 Fig. 1

INVENTOR. ATTILIO DE AMBROGIO ATTORNEY PATENTEU AUG24 19m SHEET 2 0F 2Fig. 3

Fig. 5

INVENTOR. ATTILIU DiyBROGIO BY M ATTORNEY LINE-FINDIN FEED DEVICE FORcONTINuous FOR S FOR T-YPEWRITING AND suc r MACHINES CROSS-REFERENCETORELATED AFPLICATION Italian patent application No. 50823-Al68 filed inItaly on Mar. 7, 1968 now Pat. NO. 831,161 issued Dec. 12, 1968 on whichconvention priority is based.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention relates to a feed device for continuous forms in typewritingmachines, teleprinters, high-speed printers, and other such machines,including a platen and means actuatable by motor to rotate the platenfor the advance of the forms. The device is for use in conjunction witha form provided with a hole in correspondence with a predeterminedwritingline.

2. Description of the Prior Art Various feed devicesof the aforesaidtype are known which include a hole-sensing element in the form of'atongue with a reciprocating motionfor stopping the form at apredetermined line. In these devices, however, the tongue frequentlycauses jerking or snatching of the paper during its entry into theholes, so that they are'not suitable for highspeed printers.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION According to the invention there isprovided afect! device for a continuousform provided with a hole in correspondencewith a predetermined writing line in a typewriting machine, teleprinter,high-speed printer, or other such machine including a platen and means,actuatable by motor to rotate the platen for the advance'of the forms,wherein a cylindrical wall movable rigidly with said platen is engagedby a roller fast with a star wheel having rounded pegs normally slidingon the wall and adapted to enter a hole in the formby rotation of thestar wheel due to the friction exerted by the cylindricalwall on theroller, the star wheel being. adapted to renderthe actuatable meansinoperative sothatthe form is arrested in correspondence with thewriting'line.

The invention will be described in more detail; by way of example,- withthe aid ofthe accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONOF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSThe feed device of FIG. I is incorporated in a high-speed serial printerof the type having a type carriage slidable transversely on twoguides'll secured to the fixedframe' 9 of the machine. The printermoreover comprises a platen 12' which is fixed on two shafts l3 and 14(FIG. 2) rotatable in the fixed frame 9 of the machine. A knob 15 isfixed in known manner on the shaft 13; while on the shaft 14 there isfixed a gear 16 in mesh witha second gear 17. The latter gear 17 isadapted to be rotated by a motor to effect the line spacing orcontinuous advance of the paper under the control of actuatable means,comprising an electromagnet indicated by" the reference 18 in FIG. 5, inthe manner described in the specification of the copending US. Pat.application 'Ser; No. 774,375 tiled in thename of Alessandro Cortonaand'Pietro Musso.

The platenlZ is adaptedtofeed continuous forms 19(FIG. l), for exampleof the-type folded in zigzag form, which are guided by a paper guideplate 20 and are held 'so'that they bear pressing rollers 21. Atthe'top, theforms 19are held so that they bear against the platen 12 bya series of upper paperpressing rollers 22, which are carried' by apaper-holding frame or ball constituted by a bar 23 and two arms 24pivoted at 26 on the frame 9' of the machine. A spring 25 normally urgesthe bail 23,24 to cause the rollers to press the forms 19 on the platen24. The continu'ousforms 19 are separated from one another by a seriesof perforations 8 parallel tothe writing lines and disposed incorrespondence with each fold.

' In the vicinity of the left-hand margin of the forms 19, astride thefold,there is a rectangular hole 27 (FIG. 2) adapted to be sensed todetermine the phasing of the forms 19 on the platen l2.

According to the first embodiment of the invention, at the left-hand endof the platen 12, between the latter and the knob 15, a hollowcylindrical cup 28 (FIG; 2) Ofthe same diameter as the platen 12 isfixed on the shaft 13. Between the cup 28 and the platen 12 a space isleft in which there is disposed a star wheel 29 (FIG. 1) having threerounded pegs 30 arranged in accordance with the vertices of anequilateral triangle A roller 31 fast with the star wheel 29 engages aninner cylindrical wall 32 of the cup 28. The roller 31 is rotatable on apin 33 fixed to a lever 34. This lever 34 is pivoted at 35 on a crank 36fixed to a sleeve 43 (FIG. 2) rotatable on the shaft 13. The lever 34(FIG. 1) is moreover connected tothe crank 36 by means of a spring 37which holds the roller 31' pressed against the wall 32 of the cup 28. Y

Outside the cup 28, a second sleeve 44 is rotatable on the shaft 13 andto it there is fixed a lever 38 actuated manually by means of a key 39fixed thereto. The lever 38 is provided with a slot 40guidedona fixedpin 41 to which there are fixed two rollers 42 which hold the lever 38by frictionfromtime to time in the position reached. Each sleeve 43 and44 (FIG. 2) is fast with two like gears 45 and 46 with which there meshtwo pinions 47 and 48 fixed ona pin 49 rotatable eccentrically on a discof the cup 28; The pegs 30 (FIG. 1) of the star wheel 29 are adapted tocooperate with a plunger 50 of an electric switch 51 fixed to abentlug52 of an'arm 53 of the lever 38. When the electric switch 51 isclosed, it is adapted to send a signal to a first input of a flip-flop54(FIG. 5). Another input of the flip-flop 54 is adapted toreceive asignal on the closing of a switch 5 5 and then emits anoutputsignal'which, via an amplifier 56, energizestheelectromagnet-18'(FIG. 5 The feed device operates in the followingmanner. Let it be assumed that the switch 55 has been closed and holdsthe flipflop 54 in the active state. This causes the gear 17 (FIG. 2) torotate through the amplifier 56 and the electromagnet 18. This gear 17,acting through the gear 16, causes the shaft 14 to rotate together withthe platen 12, the shaft 13 and the cup 28.

By rotating anticlockwise, the platen 12 (FIG; 1) causes the forms'l9 toadvance upwardly. The cup 28 carries the pinions 47 and 48'round andthey roll onthe gears 45 and 46. The

inner wall 32of the cup 28, in turn, tends to cause the roller 31 andthe star'wheel29 to rotate anticlockwise. The star wheel 29 thereforebears against the form 19 by means of one of its pegs 30, as shown inFIG. 1, but is immediately arrested by the form 19 and compels theroller 31 to slip on the surface 32.

I When a fern-1 19 presents a rectangular hole 27 in correspondence withthe bottom peg 30 of the star wheel 29, the peg 30 is no longer held orclamped by the form 19 and the roller 31' is again carried alonganticlockwise together with the star wheel 29. The peg 30 thus entersthe hole 27 and actuates the plunger50, which closes the electric switch51 (FIG. 5). The switch 51 sends a signal to the flip-flop 54, which isreturned to the inactive state. The flip-flop 54 now no longer suppliesthe electromagnet 18, which is deenergized, and the platen 12 stops withthe form 19 phased so as to present the first line at the writing point.After the roller 31 (FIG. 1) and has entered the hole 27 emerges at thetop, while the following peg 30 is arrested against the form 19 and theroller 31 begins to slip on the inner surface 32 again. It is alsopossible to adjust the position of the star wheel 29 so to phase theforms 19 differently.

To this end, the lever 38 is actuated manually through the key 39. Byrotating the lever 38 clockwise, the gear 46 rotates the pinion 48which, through the pinion 47, rotates the gear 45 together with thecrank 36 clockwise through the same angle as the lever 38. The lever 34then shifts the star wheel 29 downwardly, advancing the sensing of theholes 27 of the forms 19. Similarly, by rotating the lever 38anticlockwise, it causes the shifting of the star wheel 29anticlockwise, via the pinions 47 and 48 and the gears 45 and 46,thereby retarding the sensing of the forms 19.

In the second embodiment of the invention, the continuous forms 19 aresensed by a star wheel 57 (FIG. 3) having five rounded points 58. Thestar wheel 57 is disposed in correspondence with a circular groove 59 inthe platen 12 and is fast with a sleeve 60 (FIG. 4) rotatable on theupper paper-holding bar 23. The sleeve 60 is fast with two rollers 61 ofthe same diameter as the upper paper-pressing rollers 22. The rollers 61are therefore in engagement with the outer surface of the platen 12through the action of a spring 62 (FIG. 3) acting on an arm 63 of theupper paper-holding bar 23. Fast with the two rollers 61 is a cam 64 inthe form of a pentagonal prism, which is disposed between the rollers 61and is adapted to actuate the plunger 50 of the electric switch 51,which is now fixed to a lug 67 of the arm 63.

When a hole 27 in the form 19 is presented in front of th bottom point58 of the star wheel 57, the rollers 61 are rotated by the platen 12together with the star wheel 57 and the can 64, which temporarily closesthe electric switch 51 via the plunger 50 by means of a comer or angle68. A form phasing signal is therefore sent to the flip-flop 54 (FIG.bringing the flip-flop 54 back to the inactive state and thus arrestingthe platen 12 as hereinbefore described.

lclaim:

1. A feed device for a continuous form provided with a hole incorrespondence with a predetennined writing line in a machinecomprising:

a platen, means actuatable to rotate the platen for the advance of saidform, a cylindrical wall movable rigidly with said platen, a rollerslidably frictionally engaging said cylindrical wall, a star wheel fixedto said roller having rounded pegs for entering a hole in said form byrotation of the star wheel due to the friction exerted by thecylindrical wall on the roller, and means responsive to the rotation ofsaid star wheel to render the means actuatable inoperative so that theform is arrested in correspondence with the writing line.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said platen is fixed on tworotatable shafts, said cylindrical wall is the inner surface of acylindrical member fixed on one of the shafts and having an externaldiameter equal to that of said platen, said star wheel being disposed atone end of said platen.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein said star wheel is carried byan arm pivoted on a crank rotatable on said one of the shafts,adjustment means is connected to said crank for adjusting its angularposition and resilient means is connected to said arm so as to presssaid roller against the inner surface of said cylindrical member.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein said crank is connected to amanually operable lever rotatable on said one of the shafts, the leverbeing disposed at the opposite end of said cylindrical member withrespect to the crank.

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein said crank is connected tosaid lever by a pair of pinions fast with each other and rotatableeccentrically on said cylindrical member, and two gears fastrespectively with said crank and said lever, said two gears meshing withsaid pair of pinions and coaxial with the cylindrical member to permitthe rotation of the crank via the lever.

6. A device according to claim 5, wherein said lever is retained by afriction element in the position to which it is set.

7. A device according to claim 4, wherein the pegs of said star wheelactuate an electric contact to render said means actuatable inoperative.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein said contact is fixed to saidlever, the peg of said star wheel actuating the contact being the samepeg which enters the hole in the form.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein said roller engages the outersurface of the platen, the star wheel being disposed in correspondencewith a circular groove in the platen.

10. A device according to claim 9, wherein said star wheel is mounted onin upper paper-holding bar of said platen.

11. A device according axially claim 10, wherein said star wheel is fastwith a lobed cam coaxial therewith and operative to close an electriccontact carried by said paper-holding bar to render said meansactuatable inoperative.

12. A device according to claim 11, wherein said cam has the fonn of aprism with the cross section of a regular polygon having a number ofsides equal to the number of pegs of said star wheel, the contact beingclosed by means of the vertices of said prism.

13. A device according to claim 7, wherein said means actuatable iscontrolled by a flip-flop which is brought to an active state by anadvance signal, the flip-flop being returned to the inactive state by asignal generated on the closing of said contact.

14. A line registration device for operation in conjunction with arotatable platen of a writing machine to register lines to be written ona fonn relative to registration holes in said form comprising:

a. a cylindrical wall movable rigidly with said platen;

b. a roller frictionally slidably engaging said wall;

c. a star wheel axially fixed to said roller having pegs that enter saidregistration holes due to the friction exerted by the cylindrical wallon said roller; and,

d. means actuated by said star wheel to halt rotation of said platenwhereby said form is arrested in correspondence with a line to bewritten.

15. A line registration device according to claim 14 wherein saidcylindrical wall is a continuation of said platen.

16. A registration device according to claim 15 wherein said cylindricalwall has a circumferential groove positioned to underlie saidregistration holes, said roller engages said cylindrical wall externallyand said pegs enter said registration holes from the exterior surface ofsaid form so as to enter said groove.

17. A registration device according to claim 14 wherein said cylindricalwall is an interior wall of a cylinder concentric with said platen andsaid device further comprises means to support said roller and said starwheel in the interior of said cylinder.

18. A registration device according to claim 14 wherein said meansactuated by said star wheel is an electrical switch responsive torotation of said star wheel for changing the state of an electricalcircuit controlling the rotation of said platen.

1. A feed device for a continuous form provided with a hole incorrespondence with a predetermined writing line in a machinecomprising: a platen, means actuatable to rotate the platen for theadvance of said form, a cylindrical wall movable rigidly with saidplaten, a roller slidably frictionally engaging said cylindrical wall, astar wheel fixed to said roller having rounded pegs for entering a holein said form by rotation of the star wheel due to the friction exertedby the cylindrical wall on the roller, and means responsive to therotation of said star wheel to render the means actuatable inoperativeso that the form is arrested in correspondence with the writing line. Adevice according to claim 1, wherein said platen is fixed oN tworotatable shafts, said cylindrical wall is the inner surface of acylindrical member fixed on one of the shafts and having an externaldiameter equal to that of said platen, said star wheel being disposed atone end of said platen.
 3. A device according to claim 2, wherein saidstar wheel is carried by an arm pivoted on a crank rotatable on said oneof the shafts, adjustment means is connected to said crank for adjustingits angular position and resilient means is connected to said arm so asto press said roller against the inner surface of said cylindricalmember.
 4. A device according to claim 3, wherein said crank isconnected to a manually operable lever rotatable on said one of theshafts, the lever being disposed at the opposite end of said cylindricalmember with respect to the crank.
 5. A device according to claim 4,wherein said crank is connected to said lever by a pair of pinions fastwith each other and rotatable eccentrically on said cylindrical member,and two gears fast respectively with said crank and said lever, said twogears meshing with said pair of pinions and coaxial with the cylindricalmember to permit the rotation of the crank via the lever.
 6. A deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein said lever is retained by a frictionelement in the position to which it is set.
 7. A device according toclaim 4, wherein the pegs of said star wheel actuate an electric contactto render said means actuatable inoperative.
 8. A device according toclaim 7, wherein said contact is fixed to said lever, the peg of saidstar wheel actuating the contact being the same peg which enters thehole in the form.
 9. A device according to claim 1, wherein said rollerengages the outer surface of the platen, the star wheel being disposedin correspondence with a circular groove in the platen.
 10. A deviceaccording to claim 9, wherein said star wheel is mounted on in upperpaper-holding bar of said platen.
 11. A device according axially claim10, wherein said star wheel is fast with a lobed cam coaxial therewithand operative to close an electric contact carried by said paper-holdingbar to render said means actuatable inoperative.
 12. A device accordingto claim 11, wherein said cam has the form of a prism with the crosssection of a regular polygon having a number of sides equal to thenumber of pegs of said star wheel, the contact being closed by means ofthe vertices of said prism.
 13. A device according to claim 7, whereinsaid means actuatable is controlled by a flip-flop which is brought toan active state by an advance signal, the flip-flop being returned tothe inactive state by a signal generated on the closing of said contact.14. A line registration device for operation in conjunction with arotatable platen of a writing machine to register lines to be written ona form relative to registration holes in said form comprising: a. acylindrical wall movable rigidly with said platen; b. a rollerfrictionally slidably engaging said wall; c. a star wheel axially fixedto said roller having pegs that enter said registration holes due to thefriction exerted by the cylindrical wall on said roller; and, d. meansactuated by said star wheel to halt rotation of said platen whereby saidform is arrested in correspondence with a line to be written.
 15. A lineregistration device according to claim 14 wherein said cylindrical wallis a continuation of said platen.
 16. A registration device according toclaim 15 wherein said cylindrical wall has a circumferential groovepositioned to underlie said registration holes, said roller engages saidcylindrical wall externally and said pegs enter said registration holesfrom the exterior surface of said form so as to enter said groove.
 17. Aregistration device according to claim 14 wherein said cylindrical wallis an interior wall of a cylinder concentric with said platen and saiddevice further comprises means to support said roller and said starwheel in the interioR of said cylinder.
 18. A registration deviceaccording to claim 14 wherein said means actuated by said star wheel isan electrical switch responsive to rotation of said star wheel forchanging the state of an electrical circuit controlling the rotation ofsaid platen.